catullus. tibullus. pervigilium veneris (loeb classical library)

7/27/2019 Catullus. Tibullus. Pervigilium Veneris (Loeb Classical Library)

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Digitized by the Internet Arciiivein 2011 witii funding from

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THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARYEDITED BY

E. CAPPS, Ph.D., LL.D. T. B. PAGE, Litt.D. W. H. D. ROUSE, Litt.D.

CATULLUSTIBULLUS ANDPERVIGILIUMVENERIS


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CATULLUSTIBULLUS ANDPEKVIGILIUMVENEEIS

LONDON : WILLIAM HEINEMANNNEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONSMOMXXI


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Pint printed 191S.Jleprinica 1914, 1918, 1919, 1921.

NOV 1 1942


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THE POEMS OF GAIUSVALERIUS CATULLUSTRANSLATED BY F. W. CORNISHM.A., VICE-PROVOST OF ETONCOLLEGE AND FORMERLYFELLOWOF KING^S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

*


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INTRODUCTIONGaius Valerius Catullus, whose name stands notlower than third on the roll of Roman poets^ was bornat Verona b.c. 84 ; the son of a wealthy Veronesegentleman, a friend of Julius Caesar. He camefrom Verona to Rome abowt 62 b.c. Among hisfriends and contemporaries were C. Licinius Calvus,the poet, and M. Caelius Riifus, the latter of whombecame his rival and enemy.About 61 B.C., when he was twenty-two, he madethe acquaintance of Clodia, wife of Q. Metellus

Celer, the most beautiful, powerful, and abandonedwoman in Rome, and the bulk of his poems is thehistory of his fatal love. Lesbia, as he calls her, wasas unfaithful to him as to her husband, the consulQ. Metellus Celer, and gave herself for a time toCaelius, the friend of her lover. Her infidelitymade havoc of Catullus's life, and his unhappinesswas completed by the death of his brother in Asia.Little else is known of him. He travelled in thesuite of the praetor Memmius, Lucretius's patron ;he quarrelled and made friends with Caesar ; helived in and enjoyed the best society, in all senses,of Rome.The manuscripts of Catullus, with the exception of

Cod. Thuaneus of the ninth century, containing onlyCarm. lxii., are derived directly or indirectly from

vii


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INTRODUCTIONa maniisciipt designated V (Veronensis), which isknown to have been at Verona early in the fourteenthcentury, and which disappeared before the end of thecentury. Two transcripts of this exist: Cod. Sanger-manensis (G), at Paris, dated October 29, 1375, andCod. Oxoniensis or Canonicianus (O), at Oxford,written about 1400. The symbol V represents thereadings of the lost Cod. Veronensis, as establishedby G and O. Other MSS. which stand in a nearrelation to G and O and throw light on V are Cod.Datanus (D), at Berlin, written 1463, to which a highvalue is given by Professor Ellis ; Cod. Venetus (M),in the Biblioteca Marciana at Venice; Cod. Romanus(R), discovered in the Ottoboni collection of theVatican library in 18y6 by Professor W. G. Hale ofChicago, and collated by him, as well as by ProfessorEllis, but not yet published : it is nearly allied to Oand G. By the kindness of Professors Hale andEllis I have been able to consult the collation of R.O, G, and R are nearly akin, but their exact rela-tions to each other and of each of them to V arenot completely made out.The existing editions are based on these and other(later) MSS., and also on conjectural emendationsmade by the scholars of the Renaissance, chieflyItalian, among whom Avantius, Muretus, J. C.Scaliger, Calphurnius, Statius, Lambinus, may bementioned, and among later critics Heinsius, Bentley,Lachmann, Doering, Baehrens, Haupt, Schwabe,Munro, and Ellis. The present text is substantiallythat of Professor Postgate ; in most cases where Ihave departed from the text Professor Postgate'sreading is given in the notes with the symbol P.As regards this edition, as well as my former text

and translation of Catullus, published in 1904, myviii


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INTRODUCTIONgrateful thanks are due to Professor Postgate, whohas most kindly and carefully helped in the revision ofthe Latin text, though I must not claim his authorityor approval of everything that is printed.The translator is not responsible for the followingpoems, in whole or in part : xv., xxi., xxxvii., lxix.,LXXI., LXXIV., LXXVIII., LXXIX., LXXX., LXXXIX., XCIV.,xcvii., c, ex., CXI., cxii., cxiii. These have beenparaphrased by W. H. D. Rouse.

I wish also again to express my obligations toProfessors Ellis and Hale, to my Eton friends, Mr.H. Macnaghten, Mr. A. B. Ramsay, and Mr. Rawlins,and to Mr. Oliffe L. Richmond, Fellow of King'sCollege, Cambridge, for much help freely given.

FRANCIS WARRE CORNISHThe Cloisters, Eton College

August 1912


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PRINCIPAL MANUSCRIPTS OFCATULLUSV. Codex Veronensis, from which all others (exceptT) are derived ; no longer extant.E. Codex Sangerma7iensis or Parisiensis ; in the

National Library, Paris.0. Codex Oxoniensisj in the Bodleian Library,

Oxford.D. Codex Datanus, at Berlin.M. Codex VenetuSj in the Library of St. Mark at

Venice.R. Codex Romanus, in the Vatican Library, Rome.T. Codex Thuaneus, in the National Library, Paris

contains only Carm. lxi!.


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EDITIONS, ETC., REFERRED TOIN THE NOTES

M. H. A. J. Munro : Criticisms and Elucidations ofCatullus, Cambridge, 1870.

E. R. Ellis : Text and Commentary, Oxford, 1867-1889.

P. J. P. Postgate : Gai Valerii Catulli Carmina,London, 1889^ and in successive editions of CorpusPoetarum Latinorum, Also various papers in philo-logical reviews.

B. iEmil. Baehrens : Catulli Veronensis Liber, novaeditio, a K. P. Schulze curata, Leipzig, 1883.M.R. Macnaghten and Ramsay : Poems of CatullusLondon, 1899.Rd. O. L. Richmond (MS. notes).Hpt., Haupt. Lack., Lachmann. Lamb., Lambinus.

Avant., Avantius. Mur., Muretus. Seal., Scaliger.BentL, Bentley. Reins., Heinsius. Schw., Schwabe.Ital.f early Italian editions.

XI


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EXPLANATION OF SIGNSt Reading of codd. corrupt or doubtful.* Conjectural emendations admitted into the text.

[ ] Conjectural additions.* * * Lacunae in codd., , , (or blanks). Passages omitted.


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GAI VALERI CATVIJ.IVERONENSIS LIBERI

Cvi dono lepidum novum libellumarido modo pumice expolitum ?Co'.neli, libi : namque tu solebasmeas esse aliquid putare nugas^iam turn cum. ausus es unus Italorumorane aevum tribus explicare chartisdoctis, luppiter, et laboriosis.quare habe tibi quicquid hoc libelli^qualecumque ; ^ quod, o patrona virgo,

I plus uno maneat perenne saeclo. JvO

IIPasser, deliciae meae puellae,quicum ludere, quem in sinu tenere,cui primum digitum dare appetentiet acris solet incitare morsus,cum desiderio meo nitenti ^carum nescio quid lubet iocari,credo ut, cum gravis acquiescet ardor,sit solaciolum sui doloris,tecum ludere sicut ipsa possemei tristis animi levare curas ! 10

1 0)' qualecumque quidem patronel ut ergo M. : qualecumquemei; pationei ut ergo Rd.2 For nitenti P. proposes incidente, and Prof. Phillimore

movetur.2


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THE POEMS OFGAIUS VALERIUS CATULLUS^ To whom am I to present my pretty new book,

freshly smoothed off with dry pumice-stone ? Toyou, Cornelius : for you used to think that my trifleswere worth something, long ago, when you tookcourage, you alone of Italians, to set forth the wholehistory of the world in three volumes, learnedvolumes, by Jupiter, and laboriously wrought. Sotake and keep for your own this little book, suchas it is, and whatever it is worth; and may it,O Virgin my patroness, live and last for more thanone century.II

V Sparrow, my lady's pet, with whom she often playswhilst she holds you in her lap, or gives you herfinger-tip to peck and provokes you to bite sharply,whenever she, the bright-shining lady of my love,has a mind for some sweet pretty play, in hope, as Ithink, that when the sharper smart of love abates,^she may find some small relief from her painah,might I but play with you as she does, and lightenthe gloomy cares of my heart1 Ov et solaciolum sui doloris, credo, et quo gravis acquiescatardor P. : cum . . . acquiescet codd. But credo " ut " may boa scribe's marginal note upon et.

Z


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERIIa

Tam gratumst mihi quam ferurit paellaepernici aureolum fuisse malum,quod zonam soluit diu ligatam.

Ill

LvGETE, o Veneres Cupidinesque,et quantumst hominum venustiorum.passer mortuus est meae puellae,passer, deliciae meae puellae,quem plus ilia oculis suis amabatnam mellitus erat suamque noratipsam ^ tam bene quam puella matrem ;iiec sese a gremio illius movebat,^sed circumsiliens modo hue modo illuc.pA solam dominam usque pipiabat. 10' qui nunc it per iter tenebricosumilluc, unde negant redire quemquam.at vobis male sit, make tenebraeOrci, quae omnia bella devoratis :tam bellum mihi passerem abstulistis.vae factum male ! vae miselle passer ! ^tua nunc opera meae puellaeflendo turgiduli rubent ocelli.

IVPhasellvs ille quem videtis, hospites,ait fuisse navium celerrimus,neque ullius natantis impetum trabisnequisse praeter ire, sive palmulis

* P. mggests ipse.


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS IIa-IVIIa (afragment)

t

Tins is as welcome to me as to the swift maiden was(they say) the golden apple, which loosed her girdletoo long tied.

/Mourn, ye Graces and Loves, and all you whom theGraces love. My lady's sparrow is dead, the sparrowmy lady's pet, whom she loved more than her veryeyes ; for honey-sweet he was, and knew his mistressas well as a girl knows her own mother. . Nor wouldhe stir from her lap, but hopping now here, nowthere, would still chirp to his mistress alone. Nowhe goes along the dark road, thither whence theysay no one returns. But curse upon you, cursedshades of Orcus, which devour all pretty things !My pretty sparrow, you have taken him away. Ah,cruel ! Ah, poor little bird ! All because of youmy lady's darling eyes are heavy and red withweeping.

IVThe pinnace you see, my friends, says that she wasonce the fleetest of ships, and that there was neverany timber afloat whose speed she was not able topass, whether she would fly with oar-blades or


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GAI VALERI CATVLIJ LIBERopus foret volare sive linteo./GTlioc negat minacis Hadriaticihegare litus insulasve CycladasRhodumque nobilem liorridamque ThraciamPropontida^ trucemve Ponticum sinum,

. ubi iste post phasellus antea fuit 10I comata silva : nam Cytorio in iugoMccLuente saepe sibilum edidit coma.Amastri Pontica et Cytore buxifer,tibi haec fuisse et esse cognitissimaait phasellus ; ultima ex originetuo stetisse dicit in cacumine,tuo imbuisse palmulas in aequore,et inde tot per impotentia fretaerum tuUsse, laeva sive dexteravocaret aura, sive utrumque Iup})itcr 20simul secundus incidisset in pedem ;neque ulla vota litoralibus deissibi esse facta, cum veniret a marinovissimo ^ hunc ad usque limpidum lacum.sed haec prius fuere ; nunc reconditasenet quiete seque dedicat tibi.gemelle Castor et gemelle Castoris.

^^ I

VivAMVs, mea Lesbia, atque amemus,rumoresque senum severiorumomnes unius aestimemus assis.soles occidere et redire possunt:nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux^jQox est perpetua una dormienda.da mi basia mille, deinde centum,

* Or novissime M. and codd.


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS Vwith canvas. And this (says she) the shore of theblustering Adriatic does not deny, nor the Cycladisles and famous Rhodes and the wild ThracianPropontis, nor the gloomy gulf of Pontus, where shewho was afterwards a pinnace was formerly a leafyforest : for on the height of Cytorus she often rustledwith talking leaves. Pontic Amastris and Cytorusgreen with box, my galley says that all this was andis well known to thee ; she says that from her earliestbirthtime she stood on thy summit, in thy waters firstdipped her blades, and thence ^ over so many riotousseas brought her OAvner, whether the breeze fromleft or right invited, or Jove came down astern onboth sheets at once ; and that no vows to the godsof the shore were made by her ^ all the time shewas sailing from the furthest sea even to this limpidlake.But these things are past and gone ; now sherests in old age and retired leisure, and dedicatesherself to thee, twin Castor, and to thee, Castor'stwin.

^ Let us live, my Lesbia, and love, and value at onefarthing all the talk of crabbed old men.

Suns may set and rise again. For us, when theshort light has once set, remains to be slept theslee[) of one unbroken night.Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred, then

1 Or "thereafter." Or " for iier."


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERdein mille altera, dein secunda centum,deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum,dein, cum milia multa fecerimus, 10conturbabimus ilia, ne sciamus,aut nequis malus invidere possit,cum tantum sciat esse basiorum.

VIFlavi, delicias tuas Catullo,ni sint illepidae atque inelegantes,velles dicere, nee tacere posses.verum nescio quid febriculosiscorti diligis : hoc pudet fateri.nam te non viduas iacere noctesnequiquam tacitum,^ cubile clamat .sertis ac Syrio fragrans olivo,pulvinusque peraeque et hie et illicattritus, tremulique quassa lecti 10argutatio inambulatioque.iam tu ista ipse nihil vales tacere.cur ? non tarn latera ecfututa pandas,ni tu quid facias ineptiarum.quare quicquid babes boni malique,die nobis, volo te ac tuos amoresad caelum lepido vocare versu.

VIIQvAERis, quot mihi basiationestuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque.

; quam magnus numerus Libyssae harenae) ^ P. inserts comma after taciturn.


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS Vl-VIlanother thousand, then a second hundred, then yetanother thousand, then a hundred. Then, when wehave made up many thousands, we will confuse ourcounting, that we may not know the reckoning, norany malicious person blight them with evil eye, whenhe knows that our kisses are so many.

VIFlavius, if it were not that your mistress is rusticand unrefined, you would want to speak of herto your Catullus ; you would not be able to helpit. But (I am sure) you are in love with someunhealthy-looking wench ; and you are ashamed toconfess it. But though you are silent, the garlandsand perfumes about the bed, and the bed itself,show that you do not sleep alone. Well then,whatever you have to tell, good or bad, let me knowit. I wish to call you and your love to the skies bythe power of my merry verse.

VII^' You ask how many kissings of you, Lesbia, areenough for me and more than enough. As great

as is the number of the Libyan sand that lies on


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERlasarpiciferis iacet Cyrenis,oraclum lovis inter aestuosiet Batti veteris sacrum sepulcrum,aut quam sidera multaj cum tacet nox,fiirtivos hominum vident amores,tam te basia multa basiarevesano satis et super Catullost, 10quae r.ec pernumerare curior.ipossini nee maja fasclnare lingua.

VIIIMiser Catulle, desinas ineptire,et quod vides perisse perditum ducas.fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles,cum ventitabas quo puella ducebatamata nobis quantum amabitur nulla,ibi ilia multa tum iocosa fiebant,quae tu volebas nee puella nolebat.fulsere vere candidi tibi soles.nunc iam ilia non vult : tu quoque,

impotens, noli,nee quae fugit sectare, nee miser vive, 10sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura.vale, puella. iam Catullus obdurat,

- nee te requiret nee rogabit invitamat tu dolebis, cum rogaberis nulla ^scelesta, nocte. quae tibi manet vita ?quis nunc te adibit ? cui videberis bella ?quern nunc amabis ? cuius esse diccris }quem basiabis ? cui labella mordebis ?at tu, CatuUe, destinatus obduia.

< nulla, scelesta, vae te, *' Corp. Poet:' P. would now readwith Bury nulla, scelesta, anenti (c/. aenet, IV. 2Q).10


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS VIIIsilphium-bearing Cyrene, between the oracle of sultryJove and the sacred tomb of old Battus ; or as manyas are the stars, when night is silent, that see thestolen loves of men,to kiss you with so many kisses,Lesbia, is enough and more than enough for yourmad Catullus ; kisses, which neither curious eyesshall count up nor an evil tongue bewitch.

VIIIV Poor Catullus, 'tis time you should cease your folly,and account as lost what you see is lost. Once the

days shone bright on you, when you used to go sooften where my mistress led, she who was loved byme as none will ever be loved. There and then weregiven us those joys, so many, so merry, which youdesired nor did my lady not desire. Bright to you,truly, shone the days. Now she desires no moreno more should you desire, poor madman, nor followher who flies, nor live in misery, but with resolvedmind endure, be firm. Farewell, my mistress; nowCatullus is firm; he will not seek you nor ask youagainst your will. But you will be sorry, when yournightly favours are no more desired. Ah, poor wretch !what life is left for you ? Who now will visit you ? towhom will you seem fair ? whom now will you love .''by whose name will you be called? whom M'ill youkiss ? whose lips v.ill you bite ? But you, Catullus,be resolved and firm

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERIX

Verani, omnibus e meis amicisantistans mihi milibus trecentis^venistine domum ad tuos Penatesfratresque unanimos anumque matrem ?veni3ii,.,.-^o mihi nuntii beati ! -visam te incolumem audiamqiie Hiberiimnarrantem loca_, facta, nationes,ut mos est tuus, applicansque collumiucundum os oculosqiie saviabor."o'qiiantiimst hominum beatioriim, 10quid me laetius est beatiusve ?

XVarvs me meus ad suos amoresvisum duxerat e foro otiosum,scortillum, ut mihi turn repente visumst,non sane illepidum neque invenustiim.hue ut veninius, incidere nobissermones varii ; in quibus, quid essetiam Bithynia, quo modo se haberet,ecquonam mihi profuisset aere.respond! id quod erat, nihil neque ipsis*nunc praetoribus esse nee coliorti 10cur quisquam caput unctius referret,praesertim quibus esset irrumatorpraetor, nee faceret pili cohorLem.

Ifi


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS IX-XIX

Veranius, preferred by me to three hundred thousandout of all the number of my friends/ have you thencome home to your own liearth and your affectionatebrothers and your aged mother ? You have indeed ;O joyful news to me ! I shall look upon you safereturned, and hear you telling of the country, thehistory, the various tribes of the Hiberians, as is yourway, and drawing your neck nearer to me I shallkiss your beloved mouth and eyes. Oh, of aU menmore blest than others,^ who is more glad, more blestthan I ?

XMy dear Varus had taken me from the Forum, whereI was idling, to pay a visit to his mistress, a littlething, as I thou^ht at a first glance, not at all amissin manner or looks. When we got there, we felltalking of this and that, and amongst other things,what sort of place Bithynia was now, how its affairswere going on, whether I had made any money there.I answered (what was true) that as things now are,neither praetors themselves nor their staffs can findany means of coming back fatter than they went,especially as they had such a beast for a praetor, afellow who did not care a straw for his subalterns.

^ Or (o meis a.) " preferred by me to all my friends, thewhole three hundred thousand of them"; or perhaps, "bythree hundred juiles."

2 Or quantumst . . . beatiorum may = vocative, as III. 2.3 Or {nee) " neither the people themselves nor the praetors

nor their staff." hoc jpraetore fuisse is a possible emendation.13


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBER"at certe tamen/' inquiunt, ''quod illicnatum dicitur esse, comparastiad lecticam homines." ego^ ut puellaeunum me faccrem beatiorem," non" inqiiam " mihi tarn fuit maligne,utj provincia quod mala incidisset,non possem octo homines parare rectos." 20at mi null us erat nee hie neque illic,fractum qui veteris pedem grabatiin coUo sibi collocare posset.liic ilia, ut decuit cinaediorem,"quaeso" inquit " mihi, Catulle, paulumistos : commodum enim volo ^ ad Sarapimdeferri." " mane " ^ inquio puellae ;" istud quod modo dixeram me habere,fujjit me ratio : mens sodalisCinnast Gaiusis sibi paravit. SOverum, utrum illius an mei, quid ad me }utor tam bene quam mihi * paratis.^sed tu insulsa male ac molesta vivis,per quam non licet esse neglegentem."

XIFvRi et Aureli, comites Catulli,sive in extremos penetrabit Indos,litus ut longe resonante Eoa

tunditur unda,sive in Hyrcanos Arabasve molles,seu Sagas sagittiferosque Parthos,

1 commoda nam codd. : commodum enim P. : da modo Rd.2 mane me codd.: mane f me P.; minime, male me Rd. :memini, mi anime : al. al.3 pararim codd. is ungrammatical ; paratis Stat. (= siparassem) harsh.

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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XI" Well, but at any rate/* say they, "you must havegot some bearers for your chair. I am told that isthe country where they are bred," I, to makemyself out to the girl as specially fortunate abovethe rest, say, " Things did not go so unkindly withmebad as the province was which fell to my chanceas to prevent my getting eight straight-backedfellows." Now I had not a single one, here or there,strong enough to hoist on his shoulder the brokenleg of an old sofa. Says she (just like her shameless-ness), " I beg you, my dear Catullus, do lend me thoseslaves you speak of for a moment ; I want just nowto be taken to the temple of Serapis." ^'^Stop," say1 to the girl, "^ what I said just now about thoseslaves, that they were mine, it was a slip ; there isa friend of mine Gaius Cinna it is ; it was hewho bought them for his own use ; but it is all oneto me whether they are his or mine, I use them justas if I had bought them for myself: but you are astupid, tiresome thing, who will never let one be offone's guard."

XIFuRius and Aurelius, who will be Catullus's fellow-travellers, whether he makes his way even to distantIndia, where the shore is beaten by the far-resoundingeastern wave, or to Hyrcania and soft Arabia, or tothe Sacae and archer Parthians, or those plains ^ which

I Oi- " seas," but see Ellis's note.

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERsive quae septemgeminus colorat

aequora Nilus,sive trans altas gradietur Alpes,Caesaris visens monimenta magni, 10Gallicum Rhenum, f horribilesque f ulti-mosque Britannos,^omnia haec, quaecumque feret voluntascaelitum, temptare simul parati,pauca nuntiate meae puellae__ non bona dicta,__cum suis vivat valeatque moeclns/quos simul complexa tenet trecentos,nullum amans vere, sed identidem omnium

ilia rumpens : "^ ^0nee meum respectet, ut ante, amorem,qui illius culpa cecidit velut pratiultiini flos, praeter eunte postquam

tactus aratrost. f^CJiu^XII \J^

Marrvcine Asini, manu sinistranon belle uteris in ioco atque vinotpllis lintea neglegentiorum.r^oc salsum esse putas ? fugit te, inepte :Iquamvis sordida res et invenustast. ^^^Lnon credjs miliii-^crede Pollioni ,.^,/r^fratri, qui tua furta vel talentomutari velit : est enim leporumdisertus ^ puer ac facetiarum.

, quare aut hendecasyllabos trecentos 101 Or horabilein salum ulti.iiosque M. This is supported by

R., xohichhas horribiles ult. ; for horribile salCi ult. would easilybecome horribiles ult. Uaupt reads hornbile aequor ult2Tsertus, dissertus codd. : diifertus Fasserahus : diversusII. V.M. : dis ortus Rd.16


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XIIsevenfold Nile dyes with his flood, or whether hewill tramp across the high Alps, to visit the memorialsof great Caesar, the Gaulish Rhine, the formidableBritons, remotest of menO my friends, ready asyou are to encounter all these risks with me, what-ever the will of the gods above shall bring, take alittle message, not a kind message, to my mistress.Bid her live and be happy with her paramours, threehundred of whom she holds at once in her embrace,not loving one of them really, but again and againdraining the strength of all. And let her not look tofind my love, as before ; my love, which by her faulthas dropped, like a flower on the meadow's edge, whenit has been touched by the plough passing by.

XIIAsiNius Marhucinus, you do not make a pretty use ofyour left hand when we are laughing and drinkingyou take away the napkins of people who are offtheir guard. Do you think this a good joke .'* Youare mistaken, you silly fellow ; it is ever so ill-bred,and in the worst taste. You don't believe me .'*believe your brother Pollio, who would be glad tohave your thefts redeemed at the cost of a wholetalent ; for he is a boy who is a master of all that iswitty and amusing. So now either look out for three

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERf expecta aut milii linteum remitte ;Iquod me non movet aestimatione,

I verumst mnemosynum mei sodalis.nam sudaria Saetaba ex Hiberis^iiiiserunt milii muneri Fabulluset Veranius : Iiaec amem necessestut Veraniolum meum et Fabullum.

XIIICenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud mepanels, si tibi di favent, diebus,si tecum attuleris bonam atque magnamcenam, non sine Candida puellaet vino et sale et omnibus caciiinnis.haec si, inquam, attuleris, venuste noster,cenabis bene : nam tui CatuUiplenus sacculus est aranearum.sed contra accipies meros amoresseu quid suavius elegantiusvest 10nam unguentum dabo, quod meae })uellaedonarunt Veneres Cupidinesque,quod tu cum olfacies, deos rogabis,totum ut te faciant, Fabulle, nasum.

XIVNi te plus oculis meis amarem,iucundissime Calve, munere istoodissem te odio Vatinianonam quid feci ego quidve sum locutu^,cur me tot male perderes poetis?isti di mala multa dent clienti,qui tantum tibi misit impiorum.

* Or ex Hibere ; exhiberc codd.

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cU^^THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XIII-XIV

hundred hendecasyllables^ or send me back mynapkinwhich does not concern me for what it isworth, but because it is a keepsake from my oldfriend ; for Fabullus and Veranius sent me someSaetaban napkins as a present from Hiberia. Howcan I help being fond of these, as I am of my dearVeranius and Fabullus ?

XHIYou shall have a good dinner at my house, Fabullus,in a few days, please the gods, if you bring with youa good dinner and plenty of it, not forgetting apretty girl and wine and wit and all kinds of laughter.If, I say, you bring all this, my charming friend, youshall have a good dinner ; for the purse ofyour Catullusis full of cobwebs. But on the other hand you shallhave from me love's very essence, or what is sweeteror more delicious than love, if sweeter there be ; forI will give you some perfume which the Venusesand Loves gave to my lady ; and when you snuffits fragrance, you will pray the gods to make you,Fabullus, nothing but nose.

XIVIf I did not love you more than my own eyes, mydearest Calvus, I should hate you, as we all hateVatini us, because of this gift of yours ; for what haveI done, or what have I said, that you should bringdestruction upon me with all these poets ? May thegods send down all their plagues upon that client ofyours who sent you such a set of sinners. But if, as

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U^ /7

GAI VALERI CATVIXI LIBERqucd si, ut suspicoi, hoc novum ac repcrtummunus dat tibi Sulla litterator,non est mi male, sed bene ac beate, 10quod non dispereunt tui labores.

(di magni, horribilem et sacrum libellum,' quem tu scilicet ad tuiim Catullummisti^ continuo ut die periretSaturnalibus^ optimo dierum !lion non hoc tibi, salse, sic abibit:nam, si luxerit, ad librariorumcurram sTntna, Caesios, Aquinos,SufFenum, omnia colligam venena,ac te his suppliciis remunerabor. 20

rvos hinc interea vale^e abiteI ilhic, unde malum pedem attulistis, ,(^aecli incommoda, pessimi poetae. |

XIVaSiQVi forte mearum ineptiarumlectores eritis manusque vestrasnon horrebitis admovere nobis

XVCoMMENDO tibi me ac meos amores,Aureli. veniam peto pudenter,ut, si quicquam animo tuo cupisti,quod castum expeteres et integellum,conserves pnerum mihi pudice,non dico a populo : niliil veremuristos, qui in platea modo hue modo illucin re praetereunt sua occupati

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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XIVa-XVI suspect, this new and choice present is given you bySulla the schoolmaster^then I am not vexed, but welland happy, because your labours are not lost. Greatgods! what a portentous and accursed book ! Andthis was the book which you sent your Catullus, tokill him ofFat once on the very day ^ of the Saturnalia,best of days. No, no, you rogue, this shall not endso for you. For let the morning only comeI willbe off to the shelves of the booksellers, sweep to-gether Caesii, Aquini, Suffenus, and all such poisonousstuff, and with these penalties will I pay you backfor your gift. You poets, meantime, farewell, awaywith you, back to that ill place whence you broughtyour cursed feet, you burdens of our age, you worstof poets.

XIVa (ajragme?it) ^O MY readersif there be any who will read mynonsense, and not shrink from touching me withyour hands . . .

XVy To you, Aurelius, I entrust my all, even my loved

one, and I ask a favour of you, a modest favour. Ifyou have ever with all your soul desired to keepanything pure and free from stain, then guard mydarling now in safety I don't mean from the vulgarthrong ; I have no fear of such as pass to and fro ourstreets absorbed in their own business. 'Tis you I

1 Or {continuo adj.) " the very next day " : cf. Ov. Fast. V. 734,VI. 720. Or "that very day, the Saturnalia," &c.

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERverum a te metuo luoque peneinfesto pueris bonis malisqiie. 10quern tu qua lubet, ut lubet, moveto,quantum vis, ubi erit foris, paratum:hunc unum excipio, ut puto, pudenter.quod si te mala mens furorque vecorsin tantam inpulerit, sceleste, culpam,ut nostrum insidiis caput lacessas,a tum te miserum malique fati,quem attractis pedibus patente portapercurrent raplianique mugilesque

XVIPedicabo ego vos et irrumabo,Aureli pathice et cinaede Furl,qui me ex versiculis meis putastis,quod sunt rnolliculi, parum pudicum.nam castum esse decet pium poetamipsum, versiculos nihil necessest.

XVIIO CoLONiA, quae cupis ponte ludere longo,et salire paratum babes, sed vereris ineptacrura ponticuli axulis ^ stantis in redivivis,ne supinus eat cavaque in palude recumbat;sic tibi bonus ex tua pons libidine fiat,in quo vel Salisubsili sacra susci()iantnrmunus hoc mihi maximi da, Colonia, risus.quendam municipem meum de tuo volo ponte

1 Or aesculia A. Palmer.22


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XVI-XVIIfear, you and your passions, so fatal to the young,both good and bad alike. Give those passions playwhere and how you please, ever ready for indulgencewhen you walk abroad. This one boy I would haveyou spare : methinks 'tis a modest request. And ifinfatuate frenzy drive you to the heinous crime oftreason against me, ah ! then I pity you for your sadfate. For before the city's gaze with fettered feetyou shall be tortured as cruelly as an adulterer.

XVI {afragment). . . who have supposed me to be immodest, onaccount of my verses, because these are rather volup-tuous. For the sacred poet ought to be chastehimself, his verses need not be so.

XVIIO CoLONiA, you who wish to have a long bridge onwhich to celebrate your games, and are quite readyto dance, but fear the ill-jointed legs of your littlebridge, standing as it does on old posts done up again,lest it should fall sprawling and sink down in thedepths of the mire ;may you have a good bridgemade for you according to your desire, one in whichthe rites of Salisubsilus himself may be undertaken,on condition that you grant me this gift, Colonia, tomake me laugh my loudest. Ther^ is a townsman ofmine whom I wish to go headlong from your bridge

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERire praecipitem in lutum per caputque pedesque,verum totius ut lacus putidaeque paludis 10lividissima maximeque est profunda vorago.insulsissimus est liomo, nee sapit pueri instarbimuli tremula patris dormientis in ulna,cui cum sit viridissimo nupta flore puellaet puella tenellulo delieatior haedo^asservanda nigerrimis diligentius uvis,ludere banc sinit ut lubet, nee pili facit uni,nee se sublevat ex sua parte,, sed velut alnusin fossa Liguri iacet suppernata securi^tantundem omnia sentiens quam si nulla sit

usquam, 20talis iste meus stupor nil videt, nibil auditaipse qui sit^ utrum sit an non sit, id quoque

nescit.nunc eum volo de tuo ponte mittere pronum,si pote stolidum repente excitare veternumet supinum animum in gravi derelinquere caeno,ferream ut soleam tenaci in voragine mula.

XXIAvRELi, pater esuritionum,non barum modo, sed quot aut fueruntaut sunt aut aliis erunt in annis,pedicare cupis meos amores.nee clam : nam simul es, iocaris una,haerens ad latus omnia experiris.frustra : nam insidias mibi instruenteratangam te prior irrumatione.atque id si faceres satur, tacerem

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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XXIover head and heels into the mud ;only let it bewhere is the blackest and deepest pit of the wholebog with its stinking morass. The fellow is a perfectblockhead^ and has not as much sense as a little babytwo years old sleeping in the rocking arms of liisfather. He has for wife a girl in the freshest flowerof youth, a girl too, more exquisite than a tenderkidling, one who ought to be guarded more diligentlythan ripest grapes/and he lets her play as she will,and does not care one straw, and for his part doesnot stir himself, but lies like an alder in a ditchhamstrung by a Ligurian axe, with just as much per-ception of everything as if it ^ did not exist anywhereat all. Like this, my booby sees nothing, hearsnothing; what he himself is, whether he is or is not,he does not know so much as this. He it is whomI want now to send head foremost from your bridgCjto try whether he can all in a moment wake up hisstupid lethargy, and leave his sluggish ^ mind therein the nasty sludge, as a mule leaves her iron shoe inthe sticky mire.

XXIAuRELius, father of all starvations, not these only butall that have been or are or shall be in future years,you wish to sport with my favourite. And not onthe quiet : you keep with him, jest in his company,you stick close to his side and leave nothing untried.All in vain : as you plot against me, I'll have at youfirst. If you had your belly full I should say nothing ;

1 Or (i = serf) "now a maiden . . . ought to be guarded," &c.* Or {nulla) "she." * Or {supinum) "sprawling."

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERnunc ipsum id doleo, quod esurire 10fme me puer et sitire discet.quare desinc, dum licet pudico,ne finem facias, sed irrumatus.

XXIISvFFENvs iste, Vara, quern probe nosti,homost venustus et dicax et urbanus,idemque longe plurimos facit versus.puto esse ego illi milia aut decern aut pluraperscripta, nee sic ut fit in palimpsestos ^relata : chartae regiae, novi libri,novi umbilici, lora rubra, membranae,

^derecta piumbo, et pumice omnia aequata.^baec cum legas tu, bellus ille et urbanu^Suffenus unus caprimulgus aut fossor 10rursus videtur: tantum abhorret ac mutat.hoc quid putemus esse ? qui modo scurraaut siquid hac re tritius ^ videbatur,idem infacetost infacetior rure,simul poemata attigit ; neque idem umquamaequest beatus ac poema cum scribittam gaudet in se tamque se ipse miratuc^nimirum idem omnes fallimur, nequest quisquaraquem non in aliqua re videre Suflfenumpossis. ' suus cuique attributus est error 20

Lsed non videmus manticae quod in tergost.1 palimpsesto codd. " can hardly he Latin," M. ; hut referre

in palimpseston, the usual term, does not necessardy exclude inpalimpsesto relata, the finished act. Cf.

xxvi. 6.2 triBtius of codd. is corrupt. Other emendations are tersiua,

scitius.

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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XXIIas it is, what annoys me is that my lad will learn howto be hungry and thirsty. Stop, then, while you cando so unharmed, or you will have to make an end invery different plight.

XXIIThat Suffenus, Varus, whom you know very well, isa charming fellow, and has wit and good manners.He also makes many more verses than any one else.I suppose he has got some ten thousand or evenmore written out in full, and not, as is often done,put down on old scraps ; imperial paper, new rolls,new bosses, red ties, parchment wrappers ; ^ all ruledwith lead and smoothed with pumice. When youcome to read these, the fashionable well-bred SuffenusI spoke of seems to be nothing but any goatherdor ditcher, to look at him again ; so absurd ^ andchanged he is. How are we to account for this?The same man who was just now a dinner-table witor something (if such there be) even more practised,is more clumsy than the clumsy country, wheneverhe touches poetry ; and at the same time he is neverso hapjiy as when he is writing a poem, he delights inhimself and admires himself so much. True enough,we all are under the same delusion, and there is noone whom you may not see to be a Suffenus in onething or another. Everybody has his own delusionassigned to him : but we do not see that part of thebag which hangs on our back.

1 Or {lora rubra membranae) '* red ties for the wrapper " ;or [novi umbilici et lora, rubra membrana P.) ** new bosses andties, red parchment wrapper."

2 abhorret = absurdus est M. (doubtfully), BO dbhorrens, " un-couth," " out of date." Liv. xxvii. 37, &c.

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERXXIII

FvRi, cui iieque servus est neque areanee cimex neque araneus neque ignis,verumst et pater et noverca, quorumdentes vel silicem comesse possunt,est pulcre tibi cum tuo parenteet cum coniuge lignea parentis.nee mirum : bene nam valetis omnes,pulcre concoquitis^ nihil timetis,non incendia^ non graves ruinas,non furta impia^ non dolos veneni, 10non casus alios periculorum.atqui cor{)ora sicciora cornuaut siquid magis aridumst habetissole et frigore et esuritione.quare non tibi sit bene ac beate ?a te sudor abest, abest saliva,mucusque et mala pituita nasi.banc ad munditiem adde mundiorem,quod cuius tibi purior salillost,nee toto decies eacas in anno, ^'^atque id durius est faba et lapillis ;quod tu si manibus teras fricesque,non unquam digitum inquinare possis.haec tu commoda tam beata, Furi,noli spernere nee putare parvi,et sestertia quae soles precaricentum desine ; nam sat es beatus.

XXIVO Qvi flosculus es luventiorum,non horum modo, sed quot aut iuerunl

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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XXIII-XXIVXXIII

FuRius, you who have neither a slave, nor a money-box, nor a bug, nor a spider, nor a fire, but wliohave a father and a stepmother too, whose teeth canchew even a flintstone, you lead a merry life withyour father and that dry stick, your father's wife.No wonder: you all enjoy the best health, yourdigestions are excellent, you have nothing to be afraidof; fires, dilapidations, cruel pilferings, plots to poisonyou, other chances of danger. And besides this, yourbodies are as dry as horn, or drier still if drier thingthere be, what with sun and cold and fasting. Howcan you, Furius, be otherwise than well and pro-sperous .'' You are free from sweat, free fiom sj)ittleand rheum and troublesome running of the nose.

Since you have such blessings as these, Furius, donot despise them nor think lightly of them ; andcease to pray, as you do, for the hundred sestertiafor you are quite well off enough as it is.

XXIVYou who are the flower of the Juventii, not only ofthose we know, but of all who either have been or

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERaut posthac aliis erunt in aiinis,mallem divitias Midae dedissesisti, cui neque servus est neque area,quam sic te sineres ab illo amari." quid ? non est homo bellus ? " inquies. estsed bello huic neque servus est neque area.hoc tu quamlubet abice elevaque :nee servum tamen ille habet neque arcam. 10

XXVCiNAEDE Thalle, mollior cuniculi capillovel anseris meduUula vel imula oricillavel pene languido senis situque araneoso,idemque Thalle, turbida rapacior procella,cum t diva muHer aries ostendet f ^ oscitantes,remitte palHum niihi meum^ quod involasti,sudariumque Saetabum catagrapliosque Thynos,inepte, quae palam soles habere tamquam avit.i.quae nunc tuis ab unguibus reglutina et remitte,ne laneum latusculum manusque moUicellas 10inusta turpiter tibi flagella conscribillent,et insolenter aestues velut minuta magnodeprensa navis in mari vesaniente vento.

XXVI(Fvri^ villula nostra non ad Austri ;;^-^^>^-'*~^flaTiis oppositast neque ad Favoni ..uai


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XXV-XXVIshall be hereafter in other years,I had rather youliad given the riches of Midas to that fellow who hasneither servant nor money-box, than so allow your-self to be courted by him. "What? is he not a finegentleman ? " you will say. Oh, yes ; but tiiis finegentleman has neither a servant nor a money-box.You may put this aside and make as little of it asyou like : for all that, he has neither a servant nora money-box.

XXVEffeminate Thallus, softer than rabbit's fur or downof goose or lap of ear, or dusty cobweb ; and also,Thallus, more ravenous than a sweeping storm whenI f send me back my cloak which you havepounced upon, and my Saetaban napkin and Bithyniantablets, you silly fellow, which you keep by you andmake a show of them, as if they were heirlooms.Unglue and let drop these at once from your claws,lest your soft downy flanks and pretty tender handsshould have ugly figures branded and scrawled onthem by the whip, and lest you should toss about asyou are little used to do, like a tiny boat caught inthe vast ea, when the wind is madly raging,

XXVIFuRius, my little farm stands exposed not to theblasts of Auster nor Favonius nor fierce Boreas orApheliotes, but to a call of fifteen thousand two

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERverum ad milia quindecim et ducentos.o veritum liorribilem atque pestilentem 1

XXVIIMinister vetuli puer Falerni

/^jT^ JjlM (^ inger mi calices amariores, O^^v^-^^AV' ut lex Postumiae iuljet magistrae,

ebrioso acino ebiiosioris.^at vos quolubet hinc abite, lympliae,villi pernicies, et ad severos a^^^^^ju^migrate : liic merus est Thyonianus.

XXVIIIPisoNis comites, cohors inanisaptis sarcinulis et expeditis,Veraiii optime tuque mi FabuUe,quid verum geritis ? satisne cum istovappa frigoraque et famem tulistis ?ecquidiiam in tabulis patet lucelliexpensum, ut milii, qui meum secutuspraetorem refero datum lucello"o Memnii, bene me ac diu supinumtota ista trabe lentus inuinasti." 10sed, quantum video, pari fuistiscasu : nam nilulo minore verpafarti estis. pete nobiles amicos !at vobis mala multa di deaequedent, opprobria Romuli Remique.

XXIXQvis hoc potest videre, quis potest pati,nisi impudicus et vorax et aleo,

1 SeeM. ehviose ofcodd. may he for chviosaey'HpsyPostumia,more tipsy ," die, ebriu acina Bpt. P. from Oelhus. VI. 20, 6.32


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XXVTI-XXIXhundred sesterces. A wind that brings horror andpestilence

XXVIICome, boy, you who serve out the old Falernian, fillup stronger cups for me, as the law of Postumia,mistress of the revels, ordains, Postumia more tipsythan the tipsy grape. But water, begone, awaywith you, water, destruction of wine, and take upyour abode with scrupulous folk. This is the pureTliyonian god.

XXVIIIYou subalterns of Piso, a needy train, with baggagehandy and easily carried, my excellent Veranius andyou, my Fabullus, how are you ? have you borne coldand hunger with that wind-bag long enough } do youraccount books show any gain, however small, enteredon the wrong side, as mine do ? Why, after followingin my praetor's train I put down on the credit side... So much for running after powerful friendsBut may the gods and goddesses bring many cursesupon you, you blots on the names of Romulus andRemus.

XXIXWho can look upon this, who can suffer this, excepthe be lost to all shame and voracious and a gambler.

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERMamunam habere quod Comata Gallialiabebat ante et ultima Britannia?cinaede Romule, haec videbis et feres ?[es impudicus et vorax et aleo.

|et ille nunc superbus et superfluensperambulabit omnium cubiliaut albuUis Columbus aut Adoneus ? ^cinaede Romule, liaec videbis et feres? 10es impudicus et vorax et aleo.eone nomine, imperator unice,fuisti in ultima occidentis insula,ut ista vostra diffututa Mentuladucentiens comesset aut trecentiens ?quid est alid ^ sinistra liberalitas ?parum expatravit an parum lielliiatus est?paterna prima lancinata sunt bona :secunda praeda Pontica : inde tertia 'Hibera_, quam scit amnis aurifer Tagus. 20f hunc Galliae timet et Britanniae f ^quid hunc malum fovetis ? aut quid hie potest,nisi uncta devorare patrimonia ?eone nomine urbis | opulentissime *socer generque, perdidistis omnia ?

XXX . ^J Alfene immdmor atque unanimis lajse sodalibus, '^^

/ iani te nil rniserety dure, tui dulcis amiculf ?' i--- * idoneus codd. ^ quid istam (P.) alit PoTil. ^^ Of the many emendations ofthis verse these may he mentioned :

(1) tiinentque [orne] Galliae hunc. timent Britanniae fc


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XXXthat Mamurra should have what GalHa Comata andfurthest Britain had once? Debauched Romulus,will you see and endure this ? [You are shamelessand voracious and a gambler.] And shall he now,proud and full to overflowing, make a progressthrough the beds of all, like a white cock-pigeon oran Adonis ?Debauched Romulus, will you see and endure this ?You are shameless and voracious and a gambler.Was it this then, you one and only general, that took

you to the furthest island of the West ? was it thatthat worn-out profligate of yours, Mentula, shoulddevour twenty or thirty millions ? What else, then,is perverted liberality, if this be not ? Has he notspent enough on lust and gluttony } His ancestralproperty was first torn to shreds ; then came hisprize-money from Pontus, then in the third placethat from the Hiberus, of which the gold-bearingriver Tagus can tell. And him do the Gauls andBritains fear ? Why do you both support thisscoundrel .'' or what can he do but devour richpatrimonies ? Was it for this t that you, father-in-law and son-in-law, have ruined everything ?

XXXAlfenus, ungrateful and false to your faithful com-rades, do you now cease (ah, cruel !) to pity yourbeloved friend ? What .^ do you not shrink from

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V*>^ \y^^ ""^^^ v"^vvr - v^GAI VALERI CATVLLI LlBETljj./>r^

^ iam me prodere^ iam non dubitas fallere, pei'fide ?^ j' hum facta impia fallacum hominum caelicous plax:eiit ?o^wA. ^^quae ^ tu neglegis, ac me miserum d^seris iri'maiis'f^''a ^- eheu quid faciant, die, homines, cijive'^liiab'eant fidem t^^

,Wt>Aj certe tute iubebas animani tradere/ iniq'ue/me" - /'i^ t^^^>iii*-^^lnducens in amoreni^ quasi tuta'omnia ml for^fvtTv ^^^.

^^^ it/iuj jêm, nunc retrabis te ac tua' dicta omiiia factaquejAa ^ ^ ' ventos irrita ferre ac nepulas aerias sinisf '""f-'-'--^' 10si tu oblitus es, at di meminerunt, meminit Fides,quae te ut paeniteat postmodo facti faciet tui.

i " -A //iy(m\ npfi^ oyÔ^r î^^ ^Tlfi'^^Ûi'r^JLJiJr^ ' ' XXXI A-^'>^*^Paene msularum, sirmio, insuiarmnque ^^^,

^ ,^1- ocelle, quascumque in liquentibiis smgnis _^\f^' marique vasto fert, uterque Neptuniis,',"^ ijz^.xu^ jxtM^

i-


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XXXIbetraying me, deceiving me, faithless one ? Do thedeeds of deceivers please the gods above ?All this ^you disregard, and desert me ii\_J5^ysorrow_ andtrouble; ah, tell me, what are men to do, wTiom arethey to trust ? For truly you used to bid me trustmy soul to you (ah, unjust !), leading me into love asif all were safe for me ; you, who now draw backfrom me, and let the winds and vapours of the airbear away all j'^our words and deeds unratified. Ifyou have forgotten this, yet the gods remember it,remembers Faith, who will soon make you repent ofyour deed. ^^ ^ ^ ji^j^-^^^^t ijiHryx^ r- Pty fi|v*M-


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBEKXXXII

Amabo, mea dulcis Ipsitliilla,meae deliciae, niei lepores,iube ad te veniam meridiatum.et si iusseris, illud adiuvato,nequis liniinis obseret tabellam,neu tibi lubeat foras abire.sed domi maneas paresque nobisnovem continuas fututiones.verum, siquid ages, statim iiibeto :nam pransus iacco, et satnr supinuspertundo tunicanique palliumque.

XXXIIIO FVRVM oplime balneariorumVibeniii pater et cinaede fili,nam dextra pater inquiiiatiore,culo filius est voraciore :cur non exilium malasque in orasitis, quandoquidem patris rapiiiaenotae smit populo, et nates pilosas,tili, non potes asse venditare.

XXXIVDiANAE sumus in fidepuellae et pueri integri[Diaiiam pueri integri]

puellaeque canamus.o Latonia, maximimagna progenies lovis,

10

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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XXXII-XXXIVXXXII

1 ENTREAT jou, my swcct Ipsitliilla^ my darling, mycharmer, bid me to come and rest at noonday withyou. And if you do bid me, grant me this kindnesstoo, that no one may bar the panel of your threshold,nor you yourself have a fancy to go away, but stay athome. . . . But if you will at all, then bid me comeat once. , , .

XXXIIICleverest of all clothes-stealers at the baths, fatherVibennius and you his profligate son, ... off withyou into banishment and the dismal regions, sincethe father's plunderings are known to all theworld. . . .

XXXIVWe girls and chaste boys are lieges of Diana. Dianaiet us sing, chaste boys and girls. O child of Latona,great offspring of greatest Jove, whom thy mother

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERqiiam mater prope Deliam

deposivit olivam,montium domina ut fores ^silvarumque virentium S'Jijy*^ *^saltuumque reconditorum |>^^'^'^'^âmniumque sonaiitum. " (tu Lucina dolentibusluno dicta puerperis^tu potens Trivia et notho's

dicta lumine Luna,tu cursu^ dea, ipenstruornetiens iter anniiumrustica agricolae bonis

tecta frugibus exples. 5^0sis quocumque tibi placetsancta nomine, Romulique,antique ^ ut solita's, bona

sospites ope gentem.

v r> ÎTyelim. CaeCilio, papyre^dicas ^ '^ô^vut^ rU^r-^Veronam veniat, Novi relinquens

f^ "'*^^'^-^'- rmm quasoam vo!o cogitationes ^^ 7h Iw* \ruuu~X'=t- v>*âmici accipiat sui meique. j> '^1LJ^'.j^.^l^M^ vian. vo,.abilJ^'^^^ ^ -/>> quaffiA^canmâ mll^ puella ^.11^^^ ^...yieiimern'revo^t manusque collo / ,.-^ ^^^^^Xr^âs ^^^îttkSei^ra-ri fT ^^


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I t--r- .1 c_ ..

THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XXXVbore by the Delian olive-tree, that thou mightest bethe lady of mountains and green woods, and seques-tered glens and sounding rivers ; thou art called JunoLucina by mothers in pains of travail, thou art calledmighty Trivia and Moon with counterfeit light.Thou, goddess, measurest out by monthly course thecircuit of the year, thou fillest full with goodly fruitsthe rustic home of the husbandman. Be thou hal-lowed by whatever name thou wilt ; and as of oldtlioii wert wont, with good help keep safe the raceof Romulus.

V XXXVI ASK you, papyrus page, to tell the gentle poet, myfriend Caecilius, to come to Verona, leaving the wallsof Novum Comum and the shore of Larius : for I wishhim to receive certain thoughts of a friend of his andmine. Wherefore if he is wise he_will devour_the way with haste, though his fair lady shoy ld call himback a thousand times, and throwing both her armsround his neck beg him to delay. She now, if a truetale is brought to me, dotes on him with passionate

*P^^^ .^^


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^ Tkxs ^Hv- ^C


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XXXVl ''^^^^ jc,love. For since she read the beginning of his " Lad^Ty* *'>i-oof Dindymus/' ever since then, poor gir], the fires2p'^Chave been wasting her inmost marrow. I can feel p^ v for you, maiden more scholarly than the Sapphic j^^Muse ; for Caecilius has indeed made a lovely ^^^^beginning to his " Magna Mater."

-fX f

f / Chronicle of Volusius, filthy waste-paper, discharge/ a vow on behalf of my love ; for she vowed to holy\ Venus and to Cupid that if I were restored to her

love and ceased to dart fierce iambics; she would giveN^ to the lame-footed__god the choicest writings of the

worst of popts, to be burnt with wood from someaccursed ti4ê : and my lady perceived that these|V'ere the " worst poems '' that she was vowing to the

rry gods iiV pfM^nrvspQr^*"^jSIow therefore, Ohou whom the blue sea bare, who inhabitest holy

"^[Îdalium and open Urii, who dwell est in Ancona andreedy Cnidus and in Amatluis and in Golgi, and inDyrrhachium the meeting-])lace of all Hadria, record i^the vow as received and duly paid, so surely as it is j/' ^^not out of taste nor inelegant. Meantime come you "/X!^here into the fire, you bundle of rusticity and clumsi- ^t-o"ness, chronicle of Volusius, filthy waste-paper. ^^"Û^y

1 Or [et hacc pessima sic picella vidit \ loco se lepido v. d. P.) A," and the lady saw that these were the ' worst writings ' that ^^"^'Z-O^she was thu^ devoting to the gods in merry jest"or pessima ^may go witl/ jp^teZâ, as LV. 10. vidit is probably corrupt. By ''pessimus pofta Lesbia meant Catullus ; Catullus, Volusius.

w c^^ fi^-^tÂ.


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERXXXVII

Salax taberna vosque contubernales,a pilleatis nona fratribus pila,solis putatis esse mentulas vobia,solis licere, quidquid est puellarum^confutuere et putare ceteros hircos ?an, continenter quod scdetis insuisicentum an ducenti, non putatis ausurumme una ducentos irrumare sessores ?atqui putate : namque totius vobisfrontem tabernae scorpionibus scribam. 10puella nam mi, quae meo sinu fugit,amata tantum quantum amabitur nulla,pro qua mihi sunt magna bella pugnata,consedit istic. banc boni beatiqueomnes amatis, et quidem, quod indignumsomnes pusilli et semitarii moechi ;tu praeter onmes une de capillatis,cuniculosae Celtiberiae filiEgnati, opaca quem bonum facit barbaet dens Hibera defVicatus urina 20

/ . ^ jL^ ..-XXXVIII ^,/rMalest, Cornifici, tuo Catullo, ^^ c^^.

-^"^.j malest, me hercule, et [ei] laboriose,^ T ""^'^.^^ r^^^- et feagis magis in dies, et horns -;-;/^^^^^^^^ 'V ^-^^ quem tu, quod mmunum facillimumquesV^M f /(^

' "^ t-^ qiia'solatus es allocu'tione ? / ^^-^'-M. 'U> >\.c^>^k^ '^^^" vjrascor tibi/ sic meos amores ? >^^y ^fc/ f^ '^ ^ '"-^Sum quid lubet pUiiojtionis, ."^,1^^, Vri -CjJ^ f)^ 'iiroaestius lacrimis 'Simpnideii.V ' ' * '*'

1 Inale est me nercle, male qjt laDonoBc>I] 44nd.


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XXXVII-XXXVIII

Gallant pot-house, and you brothers in the service,at the ninth pillar from the temple of the Brothersin the hats (Castor and Pollux), are you the onlyAien, think you ? the only ones who have leave tobuss all the girls, while yon think every one else agoat ? Or if you sit in a line, five score or ten maybe,witless ail, think you that I cannot settle ten scorewhile they sit? Yet you may think so: for I'llscribble scorpions all over the pot-house front. Mygirl, who has left my arms, though loved as noneever shall be loved, has taken up her abode there.She is dear to all you men of rank and fortunein-deed, to her shame, all the petty lechers that hauntthe byways ; to you above all, paragon of long-haired dandies, Egnatius, son of rabbity Celtiberia,made a gentleman by a bushy beard and teethbrushed with your unsavoury Spanish wash. , /r "*

e^^ ^^^ ^^^ XXXVIn^


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBKRxxxpc

Egnativs, quod candidos l^^^^ct dentes^^ / - ^^ pA


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THE POEMS OF CATOLLUS XXXIX-XLJ w

^ XXXIXP^GNATius, because he has white teeth^ is everlastinglysmiling. If people come to the prisoner's bench,when the counsel for the defence is making every onecry, he smiles : if they are mourning at the funeralof a dear son, when the bereaved mother is weeping^ 'Tor lief^nly boy, he smiles : whatever it is, whereverhe is, whatever he is doing, he smiles : it is a maladyhe has, neither an elegant one as I think, nor in goodtaste. So I^must give you ^a_bit_af ?idvire, my goodEgnatius. If you were a Roman or a Sabine or aTiburtine or a pig of an Umbrian or a plump Etruscan,or a black and tusky Lanuvian, or a Transpadane (totouch on my own people too), or anybody else whowashes his teeth with clean water, still I should notlike you to be smiling everlastingly; for there isnothing more silly than a silly laugh. As it is, youare a Celtiberian ; now in the Celtiberian countrythe natives rub their teeth and red gums, we knowhow ; so that the cleaner your teeth are, the dirtier

XLy What infatuation, my poor Ravidus, drives you head-long in the way of my iambics } What god invoked

by you amiss is going to stir up a senseless quarrel "^Is it that you wish to be talked about .'* What do

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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XLI-XLIIyou want ? would you be known, no matter how ?So you shall, since you have chosen to love my lady,and long shall you rue it.

XLIAm EANA, that worn-out jade, asked me for a round tenthousand ; that girl with the ugly snub nose, the mis-tress of the bankrupt of Formiae. You her relations,who have the charge of the girl, call together friendsand doctors : she is not right in her mind, and neverasks the looking-glass what she is like.

XLIIHither from all sides, hendecasyllables, as many asthere are of you, all of you as many as there are. Anugly drab thinks she may make fun of me, and saysshe will not give me back your tablets, if you cansubmit to that. Let us follow her, and demand themback again. You ask who she is ? That one whomyou see strutting with an ugly gait, grinning like avulgar mountebank with the gape of a Cisalpinehound. Stand round her and call for them backagain. " Dirty drab, give back the tablets, give backthe tablets, dirty drab I " Don't you care a penny forthat ? ^ O filth, O beastliness ! or anything else thatI can call you worse still I But we must not thinkthis enough. Well, if nothing else can do it, let us

1 Or facit. " She does not care a penny. filth ..."D 49


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERferreo canis exprimamus ore :conclamate iterum altiore voce''moecha piitida^ redde codicillos,redde, putida moecha, codicillos." 20sed nil proficimus, nihil movetur.mutandast ratio modusque vobis,siquid proficere amplius potestis :"pudica et proba, redde codicillos."

XLIIISalve, nee minimo puella nasonee bello pede nee nigris ocellisnee longis digitis nee ore siceonee sane nimis elegante lingua,decoctoris arnica Formiani.ten Provincia narrat esse bellam ?tecum Lesbia nostra comparatur ?o saeclum insapiens et infacetum

, XLIV ^fi , _O FVNDEjioster, seu Sabine seu Tiburs, Xîjljtrry^(nam te es^Tiburtfem autuânt^cjuibus .

t^'-^V,r y- AwstjiLâ^SI^kb^^ ^^ - quovis Sateitum pigiJore essem\x^ u^^âsevTSabme^sive verms'^THH^ -^-t^^^^ ôl/^

I eTSulTtussini.''^^/'liu mens vcntei

n_CaA\ villa, mafamgS3p^C^^lum sumjmiosas appeJoTcledit, cenas.^/ r q^ /lam, Sestianus dum volo esse conviva, t^^^^-io"

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THE POEMS @F CATUClUS XLIII-XLIV V *' "^^^fforce a blush from the brazen face of the beast : callout again with louder voice, '^ Dirty drab, give backthe tablets, give back the tablets, dirty drab ! " ^ Wejret nothinsr bv that : she does not mind. You mustchange your plan and method, if you can do betterso" Maiden modest and chaste, give back thetablets." j^^^-^v^JL^-


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBER ^ . -oratioliem in 'Antium petitoremlo^^ plenam/veneni et p^ttutntme legi.î ~, ^ ,

eouens tussis / ^^ 1-^ A KTftiassavit usque, dum in tuui^^C ^^'^tias'savit usque, diim in tuurfi smum fugi/^^ /ît.'.^ et meêcur2m|oti^que e^Du^fica. ^^-^^ ^^%\

\ lik^'H^ quare refectus inaximas'mnm'ales'*^ Vu^k_^/. - ago, meum quod nbn esuTta peccatum?^ ^^^^-en^ô

Ti-*^ ^^^ nee denniôr lamî nterariaJci^ta7^^^^^-f^^-^'"*^^. "^^Sesurecepso^-qum^ ffraveotneni eûssim ^^^^-LZ.

I tunc vocac me, cum maium iiurum leg

XLVAcRiEN Septimius suos amorestenens in gremio ^' mea " inquit " Acrat,ni te perdite amo atque amare porroomnes sum assidue paratus annosquantum qui pote plurimum pcrire,solus in Libya Indiaque tostacaesio veniam obvius leoni."hoc ut dixit, Amor, sinistra, tut ante tdextra, sternuit approbationem.at Acme leviter caput reflectens 10et dulcis pueri ebrios ocellosillo purpureo ore saviata

^ Two e\])l;tnnf ions of this poem a:e given, according: aslegi or lc[)it is read in 12, 21. (1) {lc(j\) Catullus, invited todine with Scstius, read one of liis spet!clie.


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XLVwith Sestius, and so I read a speecli of his against thecandidate Antius, full of poison and plague. There-upon a shivering chill and a constant cough shookme to pieces, till at last I fled to your bosom, andset myself right again by a diet of laziness and nettlebroth. So now, having recovered, I return you mybest thanks because you did not punish my error.And henceforth, if I ever again take in hand theabominable writings of Sestius, I freely consent thatthe chill shall bring catarrh and cough, not upon me,but upon Sestius himself, for inviting me just when1 have read a stupid book.^

XLVSeptimius, holding in his arms his darling Acme, says,^*MyAcme, if I do not love thee to desperation, and if Iam not ready to go on loving thee contirmally throughall my years as much and as distractedly as the mostdistracted of lovers, may I in Libya or sunburnt Indiameet a green-eyed lion alone." As he said this. Loveon the left, as before on the right, sneezed goodwill.Then Acme, slightly bending back her head, kissedwith that rosy mouth her sweet love's swimming

1 tunc . . . cum, "just when I have read," of a single occasion,or " onl}' when I happen to read " ; cum almost = quoties.

2 I follow Dr. Postgate's reading and punctuation. Thisniakes three snefzes: (1) dextra 9, (2) sinistra 8 and sinistram17, (3) dcxtram 18 ; the fir.


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBER" sic " inquit " mea vita Septimille,huic uni domino usque serviamus,ut multo mihi maior acriorqueignis mollibus ardet in meduUis."hoc ut dixit, Amor, sinistram ut ante,dextram sternuit approbationem.nunc ab auspicio bono profectimutuis animis amant amantur.unam Septimius misellus Acmenmavolt quam Syrias Britanniasque :uno in Septimio fidelis Acmefacit delicias libidinesque.quis uUos homines beatioresvidit, quis Venerem auspicatiorem ?

20

V\rcO ir^'7trv-^ "H^ _

XLVI hcxJ^,

( '>^>o'Hjhrygii, Catulle, campi^*^c-^

equFaffei- uber aestuosae :

'^^ lonLr^îo1smâ~^SmoTi'^5^ ^^^JCi^'^long^îorîtnira dcynio pndiversae variae ^ viae reportant.Ck^v^ urWvv> J j)^j.jfâps diversae varie or diversevariae.

M


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^^^^ THE POEMS OF CATULLUS XLVI ^ 'eyes, and said, " So, my life, my darling Septimius, somay we ever serve this one master as (I swear) morestrongly and fiercely burns in me ^ the flame deep inmy melting marrow." As she said this. Love, asbefore on the left, now on the right sneezed good-will. And now, setting out from this good omen, heartin heart they live, loving and loved. Poor Septimiusprefers Acme alone to whole Syrias and Britains. InSeptimius, him alone, his faithful Acme takes herfill of loves and pleasures. Who ever saw humanbeings more blest .'' Who ever saw a more fortunatelove ?

XLVINow spring brings back balmy warmth, now thesweet gales of Zephyr are hushing the rage of theequinoctial sky. Deserted be the Phrygian plains,Catullus, and the rich land of burning Nicaea : awaylet us fly to the renowned cities of Asia. Now mysoul flutters in anticipation and yearns to stray ; nowmy eager feet rejoice and grow strong. Farewell,dear bands of fellow travellers,, who started togetherfrom your far-away home, and whom divided waysthrough changing scenes are bringing back again.

1 Or " than for you," understanding quam tibi.

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERXLVII

PoRCi et Socration^ duae sinistraePisonis, scabies famesque munda,*vos Veraiiiolo meo et Fabulloverpus praeposuit Priapus ille ?vos convivia lauta sumptuosede die facitis ? mei sodalesquaerunt in trivio vocatioiies ?

XLVIIIMellitos oeulos tuos, luveriti,siquis me sinat usque basiare,usque ad milia basieni trecenta,uec mi umquam videar satur futurus,non si densior aridis aristissit nostrae seges osculationis.

XLIXDisEirrissiME Romuli nepotum,aM aiuo^^\^^ cmotc^itr^eYe, Marce Tiilli,

-


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THE POEMS OF CATOLLUS XLVII-XLIXXLVII

PoRCius and Socration, Piso's two left hands, youplague and mere famine, has that obscene Prlapuspreferred you to my dear Veranius and Fabullus?Are you spending money and holding splendid richbanquets at vast expense in broad daylight, whilstmy old friends must walk about the streets to huntfor an invitation ?

XLVIIIYour honeyed eyes, Juventius, if one should let mego on kissing still, I would kiss them three hundredthousand times, nor would I think I should ever haveenough, no, not if the harvest of our kissing werethicker than the ripe ears of corn.

XLIXMost skilled in speech of the descendants of Romulus,all who are, and all who have been, and all who shallbe hereafter in other years, Marcus TuUius,to theehis warmest thanks Catullus gives, the worst of allpoets ; as much the worst poet of all as you are thebest advocate of all.

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^f Ut'^yi^^' GAI VALERI CATVLLI LlliER^ i .,n -^^ ^ L~ - . tJfc Ui 7>v^4."ip5-T' .Licini,^ie otiosi' -

i. multum lueHttus in meis tabellis, c:


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^^--


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GAl VALERI CATVLLI LIBER , .,^V ^^j?^*^ ''^ torpet. Tenuis sub artus "'^^\^î\mma, demklia^rônitu suopte , j . . 10

V,\,-^^^^ tmtinanf aures^ gemma ttegunturlumiiia nocte.^ ^^ r/ir\/if-M^ A^^ôtiêxuftasltfmiumque gîs'T'^^^'^n^ -_^ otium et reges prius et beatas ^^cf

> AJu^ P1?fSm "li!"n^ j^-r ''^^ ''^QviD est, Catulle ? quid moraris emori ?

. ^ sella in curulL Struma Nonius sedet, f . .Xf^^^T'^^per^^îi^laftJarperiei-at Vatinius )^^î^-^^-^^

quid est, Catulle ? quid moraris emori ?

, . ^ Liri ' . ^->)^Jmens crimina Calvus explicasset,admirans ait haec miiiiiqiie tollens," di magni, iîlaputVium discrtum!"

LIVOtonis caput (oppidost pusillum)t et Eri rustice f semilauta crura,

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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS LIa-LIVmy tongue falters, a subtle flame steals down throughmy limbs, my ears tingle with inAvard humming, myeyes are shrouded in twofold night.

LIA (a Jt'agmenf)Idleness, Catullus, does you harm, you riot in youfidleness and wanton too much. Idleness ere nowhas ruined both kings and wealthy cities.

LUWhat is it, Catullus .'' why do you not make haste todie ? Nonius Struma ^ sits in a curule chair ; Vatiniusforswears himself by his consulship. What is it,Catullus ? why do you not make haste to die ?

LlIIA FELLOW in the crowd made me laugh just now :when my dear Calvus had drawn out in splendidstyle his accusations against Vatinius, he lifted uphis hands in wonder, and " Great gods," says he," what an eloquent manikiji ! "

i

LIVOtiio's head (very small it is) and your half-washedlegs, rustic Erius . . . these points at least, if not all

1 Or iyeminac) " both my ears . . . my eyes are shroudedin night." gcmina lias ]\IS. authoritj', geminae is more in

ICatnllus's manner. Cf. LXIII. 75.' ? Or {struma) " that wen Nonius." a ' i


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERsubtile et leve peditum Libonis,si non omnia, displicere veilemtibi et Fuficio seni recocto.

LIVa

Irascere iterum meis iambisiimnerentibus, unice imperator.

LVOuAMVs, si forte non molestumst,demonstres ubi sint tuae tenebrae.te campo quaesivimus minore/te in circo, te in omnibus libellis,te in templo summi lovis sacratoin Magni simul ambulationefemellas omnes, amice, prendi,quas vultu vidi tamen sereno.a, vel te sic ipse flagitabam,^'' Camerium mihi, pessimae puellae ! " 10quaedam inquit, nudum reduc[ta pectus]," en hie in roseis latet papillis."sed te iam ferre Herculi labos est. 13non ciistos si fingar ille Cretum, 23non si Pegaseo f'erar volatu,non Ladas [si] ego pinnipesve Perseus,non llhesi niveae citaeque bigae :adde hue plumipedas volatilesque,ventorumque simul require cursum ;

1 Fr. reads quaeslmus [= quaesiimus] in minore.2 Probably corrupt. avelli sinite Avant. : avellent . , .

puellae 1 E.62


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS LIVa-LVabout them, 1 should wish to be disliked by youand Fuficius, that old fellow renewed to youthagain.

LIVa (a Jragment)

You will again be angered by my iambics, my inno-cent iambics, you one and only general.

LVI BEG you, if I may without offence, show me whereis your dark corner. I have looked for you in thelesser Campus, in the Circus, in all the booksellers'shops, in the hallowed temple of great Jove. Andwhen I was in Pompey's portico, I stopped all thewomen there, my friend, who, however, faced mewith untroubled look. You it was that I kept ask-ing them for : " Give me my Camerius, you wickedgirls ! " One of them, baring her naked bosom,says, " Look here, he is hiding between my rosybreasts." Well, to bear with you is now a labour ofHercules. Not though I should be moulded in brasslike the fabled warder of Crete, not though I wereto soar aloft like flying Pegasus, not if I were Ladasor wing-rooted Perseus, not if I were the swift snow-white pair of Rhesus could I overtake you : add tothese the feather-footed gods and the winged, andwith them call for the swiftness of the winds :

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32

GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERquos iunctos, Cameri, [ut] mihi dicares,defessus tamen omnibus medullis 30et multis langoribus peresusessem te, "^ mi ^ amice, quaeritando.tanto ten fastu negas, amice ? 14-die nobis ubi sis futurus, edeaudacter, committe, crede liici.num te lacteolae tenent puellae ?si linscuam clauso tenes in ore,fructus proicies amoris omnes :verbosa gaudet Venus loquella. 20vel si vis, licet obseres palatum,dum vestri sim ^ particeps amoris.

LVI() REM ridiculam, Cato, et iocosamdignamque auribus et tuo cachiniio.ride, quicquid amas, Cato, Catullumres est ridicula et nimis iocosa.deprendi modo pupulum puellaecrusantem : Inmc ego, si placet Dionae,pro telo rigida mea cecidi.

LVIIPvLCRE convenit improbis cinaedis,Mamurrae pathicoque Caesarique.nee mirum : maculae pares utrisque,urbana altera et ilia Formiana,

t mihi codd. : mi Seal. j i \2 vostri sis, nosfri sis codd. nostn sis E. (preferred by r.)^would mean " so long as I can get to you and tell you my secret.If vestri sis is read, vestri = tui, and particeps = potens orcompos.64.


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS LVI-LVIIthough you should harness all these, Camerius, andpress them into my service, yet I should be tired outto my very marrow, and worn away with frequentfaintness, my friend, while searching for you. Doyou deny yourself so haughtily, my friend ? Tell uswhere you are likely to be, out with it boldly, trustme with it, give it to the light. Do the milk-whitemaids detain you ? If you keep your tongue shutup within your mouth, you will waste all the gainsof love ; Venus loves an utterance full of words.However, if you will, you may lock up your lips, solong as you let me be a sharer in your love.

LVIO, Cato, what an absurdly funny thing, worthy foryou to hear and laugh at ! Laugh, as much as youlove Catullus, Cato. The thing is too absurd andfunny. , ,

LVIIWell agreed are the abominable profligates, Mamurrathe effeminate, and Caesar ; no wonder either. Likestains, one from the city and one from Formiae, are

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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERimpressae resident nee eluenturmorbosi pariter, gemelli utrique,uno in lecticulo ^ erudituli ambo,non hie quam ille magis vorax adulter,rivales socii puellularum.pulcre convenit improbis cinaedis. 10

LVIIIV Caeli, Lesbia nostra, Lesbia ilia,ilia Lesbia, quam Catullus unam

plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes,nunc in quadriviis et angiportis

( glubit magnanimi Remi nepotes.

LIXBoNONiENsis Rufa Rufulum fellatuxor Meneni, saepe quam in sepuleretisvidistis ipso rapere de rogo cenam,cum devolutum ex igne prosequens panemab semiraso tunderetur ustore.

LXNvM te leacna montibus Libystinisaut Scylla latrans infima inguinum partetam mente dura procreavit ac taetra,ut supplicis vocem in novissimo casucontemptam haberes, a nimis fero corde ft lecticulo : \ectu\o caett. ccdd. See M.^p. 131

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^(D rhi> ru. Jic AjLti^^^^fuUi:^THE POEMS OF CATULLUS LVIII-LX

deeply impressed on eacli_, and will never be washedout. Diseased alike, very twins, both on one sofa,dilettante writers both, one as greedy in adulteryas the other, rivals and partners in love. WePagreed are the abominable profligates.

O, Caelius, my Lesbia, that Lesbia, Lesbia whorh ^/falone Catullus loved more than himself and all hisown, now in the cross-roads and alleys serves tliefilthy lusts of the descendants of lordly-minded ^Remus, /^-^!i>-o^ >^^-^3Lot>.


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> VW^^^^"^ ^ 'GAI VALERI CATVLLf LIBE^p^rLxr

"V^^v>/-^^ virginem, o Hymenaee Hymen,-V^^^ o Hymen Hymenaee,cinge tempora floribiis4>^.we>^>^StfaS%^lentis amaraci,'^"^-*"'^*'^^-^'""""^^ I ^ /)^ flammeum cape, laetus hue'^ LijJ^ ^^^ ^^"^ niveo gerens .yî^X? X ^y^^ luteum pede soccum, VM'

excitusque hilari die, ^JTV/^voce carmina tinnuia, - r"

JLlAU ^*înea}n qu2tie taedain':^^!^^-^^.>v,r-A; AA^^ ^ namgm^^niia Manlio,*-^ namque Vinia3Ianlio, p

. W^ qlfamfeliS^r^ns ^^^^'^"^ ""-""Cv^- Âe^t^ll^hrygium Venus ^,,^

. iudicem, bona cum l^ôna^â^r^^ U|^^ TTv^-iU. jjîêt alite Virgo, ' 20Ad J2>^^ floridis velut enitens ^ (ÛyA^Ju^j^,^^^^^^^^

^^V^^ quos Hainadryacleraeae ' ^^ludicrum sibi roscido i, ^^Jt (W TW^-^-ûtriunt tumore.i ^^j^^^^ Por umore P. rwds alimento, mcfri* yr. ^-~m^^ -

68 ^"^^"^


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS LXI

LXIO HAUNTER of tlic Hcliconian mountj Urania's son,thou who bearest away the tender maid to herbridegroom, O Hymenaeus Hymen, O HymenHymenaeus

I

Bind thy brows with the flowers of fragrantmarjoram, put on the marriage veil, hither, hithermerrily come, wearing on thy snow-white foot theyellow shoe,

and wakening on this joyful day, singing withresonant voice the nuptial songs, beat the groundwith thy feet, shake Avith thy hand the pine torch.

For now shall Vinia wed with Manlius, Vinia asfair as Venus who dwells in Idalium, when she cameto the Phrygian judge ; a good maiden with a goodomen,

like the Asian myrtle sliining with floweringsprays, which the Hamadryad goddesses with dewymoisture nourish as a pia) thing for themselves.

6C)


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^3' GAI VALERI^^V^^_,^^^^^ -f^^^.^^ oiiare affevhuc aditum ferens ',^V


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS LXlHither then, come hither, haste to leave the

Aonian caves of the Thespian rock, which the nymphAganippe besprinkles with cooling shower fromalcove; Ky-^-- ^^^r^-^'-n-

call to her home the lady of the house, full ofdesire for her bridegroom ; bind her heart with love,as here and there tlie clintring ivy straying clasps the

Ye too with me, unwedded virgins, for whom -^^x^*''*''^*^^a like day is coming, come, in measure say, "OHyraenaeus Hymen, O Hymen Hymenaeus I "

that hearing himself summoned to his own office,the god may come more readily hither, the heraldof genial Venus, the coupler of honest love.

What god is more worthy tc be invoked by lovers iwho are loved ? whom of the heavenly ones shall menworship more than thee? O Hymenaeus Hymen,O Hymen HymenaeusThee for his children the aged father invokes,

for thee the maidens loose their garments from thegirdle : for thee the bridegroom listens fearfully witheager car,

71


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t>

,>^--^^^

GAI VAIERI CATVLLI LIBER ^^ .^ floridam ipse puellulam >

n'

nulla quit sme te domus >^^^d-y\liberos ,dare, necê^Jêns \^ ^v^û^-^r^ av*^^^^^^m9e^Mfp?te^ ^ te volente. quis huic deo

compararier ausit L _y^ 70^.--^ o/lv^ VC-M f^-^^ Pb '^^^ VA/TVt^, ft , quae tuis careat sacris, j^ ^ 1 Âv^^>^^ e^>i^t dare praesides"^ fW--^yvv/** JUl feSafinibus : at queat (^^-^ U> ^1^^j^^Jl>^ te volente. quis huic deo\*'^^^\ viv^^ compararier ausit ? X.^,.^v '^

^^ ^,,,--^< daustra pandit^^^, t)^^^ ;f^-^Nl VaA*^^ *Tvir^Q adest.t ^ viden ut facck AjU JufvOi^ spleildidas quatiunt comas ? ^ .

tardet ingenuus pudor : ^^

.

V^qiWrtêMâilSiJfe^^ 80^ fletj quod ire necesse est. 81t adeat codd, : ades Schr. P.: or daustra pandite ianuae,

virgines ; cf. 227. a 9 ^ Iff


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS LXIThou thyself givest into the hands of the fiery

youth the blooming maiden from her mother'sbosom, O Hymenaeus Hymen, O Hymen Hy-menaeusNo pleasure can Venus take without thee, such

as honest fame may approve ; but can, if thou artwilling. What god dare match himself with thisgod ?No house without thee can give children, no parent

rest on his offspring ; but all is well if thou art willing.What god dare match himself with this god ?

A land that should want thy sanctities would notbe able to produce guardians for its bordersbutcould, if thou wert willing. What god dare matchhimself with this god ?Throw open the fastenings of the door ; the bride

is coming.^ See you how the torches shake theirshining tresses .''... noble shame delays. . . .Yet listening rather to this, she weeps that shemust go.

I Or {ades) " bride, come hither."

IS


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GAI VALERI CATVLLI LIBERj^-^?flere oeSne. non tibi^ Au- 86

runculeiaj periculumst,nequa femina pulcrior ,clarum ab Oceano diem \ ["U/i^^^ 8-^

viderit venientem. / ^6Y talis in vario solet 6 ^^ ^cv^-^divitis domini hortulo^^ fl^û^H. j^^ru^-e^

. stare flos hyacinthinus. .oJ^:\^ **ie^kioraris, abit diest^^ ^ (So.^ 90^^j^P^lJôdeas, novanupta.] "^

prodcas, nova nupta, si ^ .--j^jcui TTrfJxîam videtur, et audias '''- H^, , aureasquatiunt comas r^^T***-*- ^^^^'*''^*'^^ ^-^

non tuus levis in maladeditus vir adulteraprobra turpia persequensa tuis teneris volet 100

secubaie papillis,

lenta *qui velut adsitasvitis implicat arbores,implicabitur in tuumcomplexum. sed abit dies:

prodeas^ nova nupta.o cubile, quod omnibus

110candido pede lecti,

7*


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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS LXlWeep no more. Not to you, Aurunculeia, is there

danger that any fau*er woman shall see^ the brightday coming from ocean.So in the gay garden of a rich owner stands a

hyacinth flowerbut you delay, the day is passing;come forth, O bride.Come forth, O bride, if now you will, and hear our

words. See how the torches shake their goldentresses !come forth, O bride.Your husband will not, lightly given to some

wicked paramour, and following shameful ways ofdishonour, wish to lie away from your soft bosom ;

but as the pliant vine entwines the trees^plantednear it, so will he be entwined in your embrace.But the day is passing ; come forth, O bride.O bridal bed, to all . . . '

twhite foot . . . bed,

^ viderit = visura sit, translating Callimachus's il^crai ctc&j.75


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(l^jJbC^Ar

GAl VALERl CATVLLl LIBERquae tuo veniunt ero,quanta gaudia^ quae vaganocte, quae medio diegaudeat ! sed abit dies :

prodeas, nova nupta.tollite^ o pueri, laces : (Jflammeum video venire,ite, concinite in modum*'io Hymen Hymenaee io, 120io Hymen Hymcnaee.'*ne diu taceat procaxFescennina iocatio,neu nuces pueris ncgeidesertum domini ^ audicns

concubinus amorem.da nuces pueris, inersconcubine : satis diulusisti nucibus : lubet ^iam servire Talasio. 130

concubine, nuces da.sordebant tibi vilicae,concubine, hodie atque herinunc tuum cinerariustondet OS. miser a miser

concubine, nuces da.diceris male te a tuisunguentate glabris, marite,abstinere : sed abstine.io Hymen Hymenaee io, 1 40

io Hymen Hymenaee.* Or domino. 2 Or iuvet {Buich$),

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THE POEMS OF CATULLUS LXIWliat joys are coming for your lord, O what joys

for him to know in the fleeting night, joys in the ful,lday !but the day is passing ; come forth, O bridet.^

Raise aloft the torches, boys : I see the weddingveil coming. Go on, sing in measure, lo HymenHymenaeus io, io Hymen Hymenaeus !

Let not the merry Fescennine jesting be silentJong, let the favourite boy give away nuts to theslaves, when he hears how his lord has left his love.

Give nuts to the slaves, favourite : your time ispast : you have played with nuts long enough : youmust now be the servant of Talassius, Give nuts,beloved slave.To-day and yesterday you disdained the country

wives : now the barber shaves your cheeks. Wretched,ah ! wretched lover, throw the nuts '

They will say that you, perfumed br

catullus. tibullus. pervigilium veneris (loeb classical library)

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